Team Meetings That Work

My favorite team meeting, the one I want to attend is “The Meeting After The Meeting”; the one that takes place in the hallway, sterilization area or at the front desk when the team separates into groups and has a no-holds barred discussion of exactly what should have been said at “The Official Meeting”.  It’s in this raw honesty that change is possible and we can create an agenda that fuels Team Meetings That Work!

The trouble is that “The Meeting After The Meeting” is private, by invitation-only and it’s a tough ticket to get.  

Click on this link to read the full text of this article as published in The Progressive Dentist Magazine to learn the surprising 4 steps to set yourself up for Team Meetings That Work 

Prior To The Hire

Here is an excerpt from my article Prior To The Hire from The Progressive Dentist Magazine.

There are 6 common biases that create bad hires. Let’s take a closer look to see if you can recognize these behaviors in yourself or your hiring process:

  • Stereotyping: forming a generalized opinion about how people will think, act, or respond, i.e.:  Judging applicants by their physical characteristics such as hair color, body type, or gender, for example, thinking men wouldn’t do well working in the front office or being the only male member of a team.
  • Inconsistent Questions:  Asking different questions of different applicants, i.e.: if you’re not grading on responses to the same questions, how can you truly make comparisons? You must be able to do some quantitative analysis.
  • First Impression Error: Allowing a snap judgment to cloud the entire interview, i.e.: thinking poorly of an applicant because of the school they attended or because you don’t like their fashion sense.
  • Halo / Horn Effect: Allowing one strong or weak point to overshadow everything else, i.e.: learning that an applicant is from your hometown or school or conversely, has a tattoo or piercing visible. Often this occurs based on an answer to one question that is different than you expected.
  • Contrast Effect: Believing good candidates who interview right after weak candidates are stronger by comparison than they truly are. Let’s face it, after a few disappointing interviews, it’s easy for an average applicant to make a big impression.
  • Cultural Noise: Failure to recognize when an applicant is being politically correct and/or telling you what you want to hear rather than the actual truth.  Don’t take answers at face value, dig deeper. One of the best replies to a first response is simply “tell me more.” Get very comfortable with a silent pause… give the applicant time to think and chances are you will gain valuable insight. Also be certain to keep your eyes on the candidate as they answer your questions, otherwise you risk missing the visual, the body language clues that they are making things up as they go along.

The full text of article is available for a limited time at TheProDentist.com along with full access to the current issue of this leading subscription-based magazine about the business of dentistry.

Your Social Media Presence Is Not Voluntary

While a Society of Human Resource (SHRM) survey reported that 68% of businesses are using social media, it’s most significant to realize one hundred percent of businesses are impacted by social media, leaving 32% of businesses as unwilling participants. The Eagles’ number one hit in the late 70s claimed that at the Hotel California “you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.” That’s precisely what happens with social media since the audience, made up of your current and potential customers and employees can control the message about your organization. You don’t even have to check in… you are there… you can never leave.

Do you have a social media policy? Do you have a social media strategy? You’ll need both if you want to positively influence your social media brand.